Hi guys,Iím currently conflicted between B Commerce at UNSW and B Business at UTS. I got an offer for Commerce at UNSW, however Iím a little scared that since Commerce has a little more maths in it (and I only did General Maths) that Iíll struggle. Also, UNSW is extra travelling and Iím not sure if thatís worth it. Whilst I think if I chose B Business, although itís not as highly renowned as UNSWís Business School, I am thinking of doing a double degree such as Biotechnology as well as Business.

But Iím actually just really conflicted tbh. I switch between both everyday and despite going to both Uniís Info Days and a lot of research I just canít settle on one. So I was wondering whether anybody who has done either of these degrees or even gone to either uni could share some of their thoughts?

Hi guys,Iím currently conflicted between B Commerce at UNSW and B Business at UTS. I got an offer for Commerce at UNSW, however Iím a little scared that since Commerce has a little more maths in it (and I only did General Maths) that Iíll struggle. Also, UNSW is extra travelling and Iím not sure if thatís worth it. Whilst I think if I chose B Business, although itís not as highly renowned as UNSWís Business School, I am thinking of doing a double degree such as Biotechnology as well as Business.

But Iím actually just really conflicted tbh. I switch between both everyday and despite going to both Uniís Info Days and a lot of research I just canít settle on one. So I was wondering whether anybody who has done either of these degrees or even gone to either uni could share some of their thoughts?

Thank you!

The maths in commerce entirely depends on what major you're trying to go for. If you're gonna attempt something like finance or econometrics then maybe it's hard without 2U mathematics. But if you're just going for accounting for example, general maths is probably all you need (even if 2U is better). And for pretty much any other major, I don't think you really need maths at all.

So I wouldn't say that's a major hindrance to UNSW commerce unless you insist on doing one of those substantial-maths majors. (Only economics/econometrics stuff is considered 'maths-intensive' in my opinion, under the commerce degree.)

Regardless, you can get a job wherever you go for uni. Almost everyone that goes to UNSW has to cop the extra travel time in contrast to UTS because of the bus, but basically those that do go to UNSW decide the sacrifice is worth it whereas those that don't would prefer otherwise. (And of course, both decisions are equally justifiable.)

(Of course, a double degree isn't such a bad thing either, but that's something you can do at either uni. In your position, I think the only thing you need to consider is just the travel times.)

The maths in commerce entirely depends on what major you're trying to go for. If you're gonna attempt something like finance or econometrics then maybe it's hard without 2U mathematics. But if you're just going for accounting for example, general maths is probably all you need (even if 2U is better). And for pretty much any other major, I don't think you really need maths at all.

So I wouldn't say that's a major hindrance to UNSW commerce unless you insist on doing one of those substantial-maths majors. (Only economics/econometrics stuff is considered 'maths-intensive' in my opinion, under the commerce degree.)

Regardless, you can get a job wherever you go for uni. Almost everyone that goes to UNSW has to cop the extra travel time in contrast to UTS because of the bus, but basically those that do go to UNSW decide the sacrifice is worth it whereas those that don't would prefer otherwise. (And of course, both decisions are equally justifiable.)

(Of course, a double degree isn't such a bad thing either, but that's something you can do at either uni. In your position, I think the only thing you need to consider is just the travel times.)

Thank you for this! The reason I'm a little concerned regarding maths is because I've read that the ECON1203 course (one of the four compulsory courses in first year of BCom) is particularly difficult for people with no prior knowledge of Mathematics. Would you know if this is true or if someone who just did General would struggle with it? Other than that, I don't intend on doing a maths-based major so hopefully it should be alright.

Thank you for this! The reason I'm a little concerned regarding maths is because I've read that the ECON1203 course (one of the four compulsory courses in first year of BCom) is particularly difficult for people with no prior knowledge of Mathematics. Would you know if this is true or if someone who just did General would struggle with it? Other than that, I don't intend on doing a maths-based major so hopefully it should be alright.

I mean, if ECON1203 is what's shaking you I don't really blame you for it. It's just statistics taught in a heavily rote learnt manner; very little intuition and stuff.

But if that's your only fear you can always play it clever. It's core, but nobody said that you had to do ECON1203 in first year. You can push it back to second year, or all the way towards the end of your degree if you want to avoid it. (A lot of people typically do this with WAM killing courses like ECON1203 and MGMT1001.)

Basically, so long as you don't mess up any prerequisites by delaying ECON1203 (which I don't see happening), you should be fine

Thank you for this! The reason I'm a little concerned regarding maths is because I've read that the ECON1203 course (one of the four compulsory courses in first year of BCom) is particularly difficult for people with no prior knowledge of Mathematics. Would you know if this is true or if someone who just did General would struggle with it? Other than that, I don't intend on doing a maths-based major so hopefully it should be alright.

Hey!

Iíve put ECON1203 in Term 2 just to get all my 4 cores out of the way in Term 1 and 2. I only did General Maths as well, so hopefully itís comforting to you to know that Iíll be going through the same thing as well!

Iíve put ECON1101 and ACCT1501 as my cores in Term 1 if you wanted to know!

I mean, if ECON1203 is what's shaking you I don't really blame you for it. It's just statistics taught in a heavily rote learnt manner; very little intuition and stuff.

But if that's your only fear you can always play it clever. It's core, but nobody said that you had to do ECON1203 in first year. You can push it back to second year, or all the way towards the end of your degree if you want to avoid it. (A lot of people typically do this with WAM killing courses like ECON1203 and MGMT1001.)

Basically, so long as you don't mess up any prerequisites by delaying ECON1203 (which I don't see happening), you should be fine

I didnít know I could push it back that far! Thank you for this, hopefully Iíll be alright. Also, Iím not sure if you would know anything about this, but I read that the exams are UNSW are generally much harder as compared to those as UTS and that also has me a little worried (even though I know this isnít something that should affect my uni choice, but I guess Iím just curious whether this is true?).

Iíve put ECON1203 in Term 2 just to get all my 4 cores out of the way in Term 1 and 2. I only did General Maths as well, so hopefully itís comforting to you to know that Iíll be going through the same thing as well!

Iíve put ECON1101 and ACCT1501 as my cores in Term 1 if you wanted to know!

I didnít know I could push it back that far! Thank you for this, hopefully Iíll be alright. Also, Iím not sure if you would know anything about this, but I read that the exams are UNSW are generally much harder as compared to those as UTS and that also has me a little worried (even though I know this isnít something that should affect my uni choice, but I guess Iím just curious whether this is true?).

Don't worry, rarely anyone in first year knows these things because nobody tells them - I was lucky to have sources

That... is quite new to me tbh. I mean no exam is intended to be easy at UNSW but I've never heard of this comparison before either. Plus in my opinion, if you're doing those two courses in term 1:- ACCT1501 exam was easy. The course can be boring if you can't put up with the lecturer but if you can stay on top of it all during your own time/tutorials/other sources if you want to, it seemed fine. Was one of the easiest exams I've sat at uni.- ECON1101 has elements of fun in it. But to be fair if you didn't study for it the curveballs would've gotten you. (If you studied hard it's still easy.)

So sadly I can't give you a definitive answer but I am very surprised though!

(But I mean, marks are important at uni, but they're not as important as they were in high school. I know I love my marks but tbh, imo people who study hard enough for "non WAM-killing degrees" (cough law) can all get distinctions throughout their time at uni (75+ marks). And that's probably gonna be enough. And also your marks mean nothing after you get your first job anyway (just like how your ATAR means nothing once you get into uni), so I probably wouldn't rely on difficulty of exams as the biggest factor.)

Don't worry, rarely anyone in first year knows these things because nobody tells them - I was lucky to have sources

That... is quite new to me tbh. I mean no exam is intended to be easy at UNSW but I've never heard of this comparison before either. Plus in my opinion, if you're doing those two courses in term 1:- ACCT1501 exam was easy. The course can be boring if you can't put up with the lecturer but if you can stay on top of it all during your own time/tutorials/other sources if you want to, it seemed fine. Was one of the easiest exams I've sat at uni.- ECON1101 has elements of fun in it. But to be fair if you didn't study for it the curveballs would've gotten you. (If you studied hard it's still easy.)

So sadly I can't give you a definitive answer but I am very surprised though!

(But I mean, marks are important at uni, but they're not as important as they were in high school. I know I love my marks but tbh, imo people who study hard enough for "non WAM-killing degrees" (cough law) can all get distinctions throughout their time at uni (75+ marks). And that's probably gonna be enough. And also your marks mean nothing after you get your first job anyway (just like how your ATAR means nothing once you get into uni), so I probably wouldn't rely on difficulty of exams as the biggest factor.)

Thank you so much for this. I truly appreciate it 😭. Iím now considering doing Commerce/Science and was wondering whether in double degrees such as this, I can postpone courses like Math1031 (my new biggest fear HAHAHA) which are obviously calculus-based to the second year? Because I think itís getting a little late for bridging courses now :/. Also, is it generally easy to drop for example BSc in a combined Commerce degree? Thank you